Shopify vs WooCommerce vs Magento

Why Platform Choice Matters

Your Platform Is the Foundation of Your Online Business

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is one of the most consequential decisions you will make when launching or relaunching an online store. The platform you select determines your day-to-day workflow, your running costs, the features available to your customers, and how easily your store can grow as your business scales.

Get it right, and you have a stable, efficient system that supports your team and delights your customers. Get it wrong, and you face expensive migrations, technical limitations, and lost sales.

In the UK market, three platforms dominate professional ecommerce development:

Shopify — a fully hosted, subscription-based platform that handles the technical infrastructure for you. It is the fastest route to a professional online store.
WooCommerce — a free, open-source plugin for WordPress that gives you complete ownership and deep customisation. It is the most widely used ecommerce platform globally.
Magento (Adobe Commerce) — an enterprise-grade, open-source platform built for complex businesses with large catalogues, multi-store requirements, or advanced B2B needs.

Each platform excels in different areas. There is no single "best" platform — only the best platform for your specific situation. This guide will help you work out which one that is.

Feature	Shopify	WooCommerce	Magento / Adobe Commerce
Ease of Use	Excellent — intuitive admin, no technical knowledge required	Moderate — requires familiarity with WordPress and plugin management	Steep learning curve — typically requires dedicated developers to manage
Cost to Start	Low — from £25/month plus a theme (£0–£300)	Low — free plugin, but hosting (£5–£40/month) plus theme and plugins needed	High — Open Source is free, but Adobe Commerce licences start at ~£17,000/year
Monthly Running Costs	£25–£344/month plus transaction fees (0–2%) unless using Shopify Payments	£10–£100+/month for hosting; plugin renewals £100–£500+/year	£50–£500+/month for hosting; enterprise licence fees on top
Hosting	Included — fully managed, globally distributed CDN	Self-hosted — you choose and manage your own hosting provider	Self-hosted — requires high-performance servers, often managed hosting
Customisation	Moderate — theme-based with Liquid templating; apps extend functionality	Excellent — full code access, thousands of plugins, completely open	Excellent — highly modular architecture, deep customisation at every level
SEO	Good — clean URLs, auto sitemaps, fast hosting; limited blog	Excellent — WordPress SEO ecosystem (Yoast, Rank Math), strong blogging	Good — granular controls for large catalogues; requires proper configuration
B2B Features	Limited natively — available via Shopify Plus or third-party apps	Available through plugins (wholesale pricing, trade accounts, quote systems)	Excellent — built-in B2B with company accounts, negotiated pricing, requisition lists
Scalability	Excellent — Shopify handles infrastructure scaling automatically	Good — scales well with quality hosting, but requires manual optimisation	Excellent — built for high-volume, multi-store, multi-currency operations
Best For	SMEs wanting speed, simplicity, and reliability without technical overhead	Content-driven brands, WordPress users, and businesses needing full control on a budget	Large enterprises, complex B2B, multi-store retailers, and high-volume operations

Strengths

Zero server management — hosting, SSL, security patches, and PCI compliance are all handled for you
Fast time to market — a professionally designed store can launch in 2–4 weeks
Built-in payment processing — Shopify Payments supports UK cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Klarna
Extensive app marketplace — over 8,000 apps for marketing, shipping, inventory, and more
99.99% uptime guarantee — your store stays online during traffic spikes and peak seasons

Limitations

Limited customisation depth — you work within Shopify's Liquid templating system and cannot modify core platform code
Transaction fees — if you use a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments, you pay an additional 0.5–2% per transaction
App dependency — many features that come standard on other platforms require paid apps on Shopify
Content limitations — the built-in blog and CMS are basic compared to WordPress
Platform lock-in — you do not own the underlying code, so migrating away means rebuilding

Find a Shopify Developer in the UK

Strengths

Complete ownership — you own every line of code and all your data, with no platform lock-in
WordPress integration — access to the world's most powerful CMS for content marketing and SEO
Low entry cost — the core plugin is free, and affordable hosting starts under £10 per month
Unlimited customisation — any feature can be built, modified, or extended with custom code or plugins
No transaction fees — WooCommerce never charges you a percentage of your sales

Limitations

You manage everything — hosting, SSL, backups, security updates, and performance are your responsibility
Plugin conflicts — combining multiple plugins can cause compatibility issues and slow page load times
Security exposure — WordPress is a common target for attacks, requiring diligent maintenance
Performance at scale — large catalogues (5,000+ products) may require premium hosting and optimisation work
Hidden costs add up — premium plugins, quality hosting, and ongoing developer support can make the total cost higher than expected

Hire a WooCommerce Developer

Strengths

Multi-store architecture — run multiple storefronts, languages, and currencies from a single admin panel
Native B2B features — company accounts, negotiated pricing, purchase orders, requisition lists, and approval workflows
Handles massive catalogues — designed for stores with tens of thousands of SKUs and complex product relationships
Advanced pricing and promotions — customer-group pricing, tiered discounts, catalogue rules, and coupon logic
Enterprise API — robust REST and GraphQL APIs for integrating with ERPs, PIMs, CRMs, and warehousing systems

Limitations

High total cost — development, hosting, and licensing costs make Magento the most expensive option by a significant margin
Requires specialist developers — Magento has a steep learning curve and experienced developers command higher rates
Slower development cycles — building and deploying features takes longer than on Shopify or WooCommerce
Resource-intensive hosting — Magento demands high-performance servers with significant memory and processing power
Overkill for small businesses — the complexity and cost are rarely justified for stores with fewer than 1,000 products or under £500K annual revenue

Find Magento Developers in the UK

Choose Shopify If…

You want to launch quickly without managing servers or security
You have a small to medium product catalogue (under 5,000 SKUs)
You do not have in-house technical staff or a dedicated developer
You sell primarily to consumers (B2C) and want a polished checkout
You value reliability and uptime over absolute customisation freedom
Your budget for initial development is under £15,000

Typical UK businesses: D2C brands, independent retailers, fashion labels, food and drink producers, subscription box companies.

Choose WooCommerce If…

You already have a WordPress website with established traffic and SEO
Content marketing and blogging are central to your sales strategy
You want full ownership of your code and data with no platform lock-in
You need bespoke functionality that off-the-shelf apps cannot provide
You have access to a developer (in-house or agency) for ongoing maintenance
You want to avoid platform transaction fees entirely

Typical UK businesses: Content publishers selling products, niche specialists, membership sites, businesses with existing WordPress infrastructure.

Choose Magento If…

You have a large catalogue with thousands of products and complex attributes
You need multiple storefronts, languages, or currencies from one backend
B2B features (company accounts, quote requests, purchase orders) are essential
You need deep integrations with ERP, PIM, or warehouse management systems
Your annual online revenue exceeds £500,000 and is growing rapidly
You have budget for specialist developers and enterprise-grade hosting

Typical UK businesses: Multi-brand retailers, B2B wholesalers, manufacturers with trade portals, large-catalogue specialists, international businesses.

Things to Consider

Beyond the Platform: Other Factors That Matter

Your choice of platform is important, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. Here are additional factors that UK businesses should weigh when making their decision.

Payment Processing in the UK

All three platforms support Stripe, PayPal, and major UK payment gateways. Shopify has a native payment solution (Shopify Payments, powered by Stripe) that eliminates additional transaction fees. WooCommerce and Magento give you freedom to choose any payment provider, which can be advantageous for negotiating rates at higher volumes. If you sell via point-of-sale as well as online, check that your chosen platform integrates with your card terminals.

VAT and Tax Compliance

Shopify handles UK VAT calculations and can generate VAT-compliant invoices through apps. WooCommerce supports VAT through plugins like WooCommerce Tax or dedicated extensions for Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliance. Magento has built-in tax rules that work well for complex multi-jurisdiction setups. If you sell internationally, consider how each platform handles cross-border VAT, customs duties, and the complexities introduced by post-Brexit trading rules.

Total Cost of Ownership

Do not just compare subscription prices. Factor in the cost of themes, plugins or apps, hosting, SSL certificates, development time, ongoing maintenance, and support. WooCommerce may appear cheapest on paper, but professional hosting, premium plugins, and developer time can make it comparable to Shopify. Magento's total cost is consistently the highest, but for businesses processing significant revenue, the return on investment can justify it.

Finding the Right Developer

Your platform choice also affects your talent pool. Shopify and WooCommerce developers are widely available in the UK, keeping rates competitive. Magento developers are more specialised and command higher day rates, typically £400–£800+ per day compared to £250–£500 for Shopify or WooCommerce specialists. Make sure you can find and afford ongoing development support for your chosen platform before committing.

What is the best ecommerce platform for a small UK business?

For most small UK businesses, Shopify offers the best balance of simplicity, reliability, and value. It handles hosting, security, and PCI compliance out of the box, so you can focus on selling rather than managing technology. Monthly plans start at around £25 and you can be up and running within days. If you already have a WordPress website with strong organic traffic, WooCommerce may be a better fit since it lets you add ecommerce to your existing site without starting from scratch.

How much does it cost to build an ecommerce website on each platform?

A professionally built Shopify store typically costs between £3,000 and £15,000, with monthly subscription fees from £25 to £344. WooCommerce has no licensing fee, but you will need hosting (£10 to £100 per month), a theme (£0 to £80), and plugins (£0 to £300+ per year), with professional development costs ranging from £3,000 to £20,000. Magento has the highest total cost of ownership, with development starting at £15,000 and often exceeding £50,000 for complex builds, plus hosting costs of £50 to £500+ per month. Adobe Commerce (the enterprise edition) also carries annual licence fees starting around £17,000.

Can I migrate from one ecommerce platform to another?

Yes, platform migration is common and entirely achievable, though it requires careful planning. Products, customers, and order history can be transferred using migration tools or bespoke scripts. The key challenges are preserving SEO rankings through proper URL redirects, maintaining integrations with third-party systems, and minimising downtime. A typical migration project takes 4 to 12 weeks depending on the size of your catalogue and the complexity of your setup. We recommend working with an experienced developer who has handled migrations on your target platform.

Is WooCommerce really free to use?

The WooCommerce plugin itself is free and open source, but running a WooCommerce store is not cost-free. You will need to pay for web hosting, a domain name, an SSL certificate (often included with hosting), and potentially premium themes and plugins. Many essential features like advanced shipping rules, subscription management, or multi-currency support require paid extensions costing £50 to £200 each per year. You are also responsible for security updates, backups, and performance optimisation, which may require ongoing developer support. The total annual cost for a typical WooCommerce store ranges from £500 to £3,000 before development fees.

Which ecommerce platform is best for SEO in the UK?

All three platforms can achieve excellent search engine rankings when configured correctly. WooCommerce has a slight edge because it runs on WordPress, which offers unrivalled flexibility for content marketing, blogging, and on-page SEO through plugins like Yoast SEO. Shopify provides solid built-in SEO features including clean URL structures, automatic sitemaps, and fast page load times, though its blogging capabilities are more limited. Magento offers granular SEO controls suitable for large catalogues with thousands of products. Ultimately, the platform matters less than the quality of your content, site speed, technical implementation, and backlink profile.

How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform

Your Platform Is the Foundation of Your Online Business